Cats Can Be Walked Too
by ImperfectPerfection72029
Summary: Based on the prompt from awful-aus. "You caught me watching you walk your incredibly fat cat down to the park.." AU #180


Jim loved animals, absolutely loved them. Growing up with a strict asshole of a parent like Frank didn't exactly allow him to bring home wounded sparrows or sopping wet kittens. Thus upon becoming legal, Jim hightailed it to Georgia where he could join the Navy and live off base with his friend and bargain his way into getting a dog. Leonard, the loveable oaf, put his foot down on the blonde getting any animals from the pound, listing all the diseases and parasites that strays could carry and how he did not want his eighteen year old roommate being his downfall.

So the good doctor came home to his roommate and a yipping Alaskan Malamute-no, not a Siberian Husky, a brown and white ball of fluff that pissed in Leonard's shoes and pamphlets upon pamphlets stating praise for the pup's kind.

Now Leonard liked Demi, she motivated the blonde to exercise daily and to actually read the Nutritional Facts on the backs of food products. And while he did consent way back when that the navy cadet could have a dog, four years of thunderstorm fueled door scratching and taking care of Demi alone was not exactly what he signed up for. Jim's solution whenever his darling dog got on Leonard's nerves was to take Demi to the park and pick up a fresh box of peaches before he came home.

This was one of those days.

"Dammit, Jim!" the brunette huffed, "I just had to play tug o' war over my tie with your mutt."

"Demi, you naughty dog you…"

"Jim! This is the third time this damn month that Demi ruined something that belonged to me."

"You're exaggerating, Bones. Demi ripped up a pair of my socks just last Tuesday."

"Those were **my** socks, you didn't do **your** laundry last week, and you borrowed a pair of **my** socks and took them off in the living room where **your** dog got to them."

"Oh.. Right, those were some nice socks too."

"Jim!"

"All right, I can see you're on your cycle right now, so-that murderous look in your eyes is kind of scaring me."

"I think it would be a good time for you to take a walk with your mangy mutt."

"That sounds like an excellent idea actually, you know, Bones, you come up with the greatest-"

"The faster you get out, the less likely it is you'll come home to your stuff in boxes."

"Going, going," Jim announced as he freehanded putting on his beat up Converse and grabbed his keys and leash. "Let's go, Demi, Mommy is being mean to Daddy again."

The doctor continued to glare at the younger man until Demi was out the door and Jim pulled the door close.

"Y'know, for a guy who goes by the name of 'Bones', you sure as shit don't get along with dogs!"

Satisfied that he got the last word, Jim closed the door and ushered Demi down the steps while he untangled the leash. After hooking the blue leash onto his pet's collar, the blonde followed after his eager Malamute. The public park wasn't too far away, a ten minute walk from the McCoy-Kirk residence, seven minutes if Leonard joined him and insisted a brisk pace was better. The blonde liked to take his time to wave at his elderly neighbours and let the Russian whiz kid three doors down to play with Demi and talk about his decision to join the military after college. And when he made it to the park, he released Demi and let her wreak havoc on a flock of resting pigeons. Jim set up camp on a wooden bench and enjoyed the hot Georgia sun on his skin.

During their visit, Jim answered a call from his mother and purchased two hot dogs from the sketchy vendor and gave the other to Demi. If Leonard saw him shovel the wiener in his mouth-and his dog's-he'd get a pretty detailed and degrading lecture about the importance of what he should and should not put into his body. But Leonard wasn't here, so Jim ate with gusto and licked the mustard from his index finger. He was returning from the trash can when he stopped dead in his tracks.

There was a really hot guy walking a really fat cat.

Thank God for small blessings because Demi held no stereotypical hatred towards cats, she stayed put next to their bench. A little boy wearing a Falcons jersey loudly asked his dad why the stranger was walking his overweight Persian through the park. The dad scolded his son in a hushed tone, so as to not draw the other man's attention, but the guy would have to be deaf not to hear the question.

And so the man rocking a bowl cut turned to look at the father and son and said, "Young man, a responsible owner ensures that their pet gets regular exercise to prevent obesity " Yep, not deaf.

"But it's already fat," the boy replied.

The tips of the man's ears glowed pink with embarrassment, possibly thinking the child wouldn't further comment. Jim took pity on the guy, not his fault children didn't have speech filters.

"That's right, bud," Jim stated, "That kitty has already put on a lot of weight, so the only logical option is to give it some exercise to get rid of all the fat."

The cat owner's attention diverted to the blonde, who upon meeting his gaze gave him a toothy grin and waved.

"See my dog over here? I walk her everyday to make sure she doesn't put on weight." Jim returned to the bench and scratched Demi behind the ear.

The father and son nodded in acknowledgement and awkwardly walked away. Jim looked down at his dog and ran his hands down her soft fur. When he looked up again, the cat lover had led his pet towards him. The closer they got, the more attractive Jim realized the man was with his chocolate brown eyes and perfect hair was.

"Hey," the blonde greeted.

"That was an unexpected show of kindness, sir."

"Call me Jim."

"Jim, my name is Spock. As I said before, your actions are appreciated, no matter how little."

The other man shrugged, "It's nothing really, you gotta indulge kids in their questions."

"Indeed, it is important to answer children's questions to nurture their pursuit of knowledge."

"Uh huh," Jim agreed.

"You are a Naval officer?"

"Huh?"

"Your leash has 'NAVY' printed in silver," Spock pointed at the aforementioned item.

"Oh, yeah, I've been in the Navy since I was eighteen."

"Was that the career path you felt suited you best?"

Jim nodded, "Was never the school type anyway, I knew I wanted to get my GED and jump on the first bus to Georgia."

"I debated between continuing down the path of academia or joining the Navy. After discussing it with my parents, career counselor, and local recruiter, I decided against the military and became a Professor."

"Ah, I asked a few of my friends and they all agreed that they thought it would be great if I enlisted."

"May I ask what your rank is?"

"You're lookin' at the youngest Captain in the history of the US Navy."

"I'm impressed, Jim."

"Thank you, Mister Spock," the blonde grinned, "So what's your cat's name?"

"I-Chaya."

"That's a.. Interesting name."

"And your dog's?"

"This is Demi Moore Kirk, and she understands that losing weight bites."

"I beg your pardon?"

Jim's eyes flickered up at the man, taking in his stiff posture and black slacks. I-Chaya was curled up on the grass next to his feet.

"Hey, you wanna sit with me? If I'm going to explain this, you should sit. Even I-Chaya knows when to take a breather."

Spock nodded and took the offered seat, he tied down the leash in his hand to the leg of the bench. He looked at the military man with expectancy in his eyes.

"When I was in basic training, I had my roommate take care of Demi. She had really bad separation anxiety when she was a pup, and I felt really bad, but I had to leave. She hardly ate her dog food, so Bones, my roommate, decided to feed her chicken-"

"That doesn't sound unaccept-"

"Covered in peanut butter, she ate that for two months."

"That does not sound like a suitable diet for a canine."

"Nope, it took months to get my poor girl back to a healthy size. So what happened with I-Chaya?"

"I was recently on a month long study abroad to exchange notes with other professors in my field. Kennels do not sit well with me, so my mother offered to take in I-Chaya. When I returned just last week, she was in this state."

Jim laughed, "At least you can take her through this lovely park with all the curious kids."

"I suppose."

The conversation drifted from topic to topic. Jim found out that Spock was from Arizona, preferred cats to dogs because of their more companionable silence, and attended school at Harvard.

"Hey, answer this question, Spock."

"What is it?"

"Do you want to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?"

"May I ask what dinner with you would entail?"

"Well what you normally would expect on a date. Some beer or good wine depending on where you want to go. More awesome talks about our careers and pasts. And if you play your cards right, I'll let you pet my dog."

"You're quite ambitious, aren't you?"

"It helps to have self confidence, otherwise I'd never have had the gall to talk to you in the first place."

Spock turned his body towards the blonde, he had never been so blatantly flirted with before, and the fact that it was by this fascinating creature.. The dark haired man would have to be a fool not to give this impromptu relationship a try.

"And if this date is successful, what happens from there?"

"We go on a few more, figure out whether we're completely compatible, and then we become one of those couples that just walks into a sex shop and tries new things," the young Captain waggled his brows.

Spock's cheeks turned pink at the comment, "I have never nor do I desire to enter a sex shop."

"Oh, I'm going to have so much fun with you."

"I do not know whether that is a good or bad thing."

"We'll just have to find out, eh, Mister Spock?"

THE END

* * *

I based Demi's diet off how my loli fed her two miniature dachshunds, my dad was pretty pissed at all the Costco roasted chicken and Jiffy peanut butter they were eating. Ogie and Nico were so fat that they got rug burn from their bellies dragging along the carpet! And the USS George Washington was the carrier my dad was on.

For the Georgians reading this, I wanted to do minimal research and still make things seem in character, so I apologize if my Google research is incorrect. I'm not from Georgia and I don't live there, so all my knowledge of Georgia comes from the Walking Dead.

Also, it's come to my attention by a lovely Spirk shipper that Malamutes would have a relatively tough time living in the Georgia heat. As I've said, I'm a amateur, so I'm going to let my dog slip up slide. With that said, I thought I'd mention real quick that the naval ship mentioned as far as I know has never been stationed in Georgia. But I thought including the Washington was a nice touch and a little shout out to my dad and all his old Navy buddies. The USS George Washington's current homeport is in Japan.

Anyway, thanks to you guys who bothered to read my fic. If you guys have any Tumblr prompts you might like me to take a shot at, go right ahead! This won't be the first contribution I make to the Star Trek fandom, so this is just a stepping stone to hopefully greater fics.

All my love,

Robin~


End file.
